Friday, October 3, 2014

USA vs World - NBC ANW6 Special - Part 3

This is my Part Three Blog of the USA vs The World - ANW 6 Special that
aired on Monday, September 15, 2014. For those who are confused when
this happened.. it was the Final day (Sunday) of the Las Vegas taping
of American Ninja Warrior 6 back in June 15, 2014.

Thanks everyone for your patience. As I've been saying on Twitter my PC monitor died last week and had to wait for a replacement that I ordered online. Finally got it after a missed Fedex delivery.. groan.. So, trying to catch up from not having my computer for that long, has delayed this even more. Besides.. I get so frustrated with this stage .. uuuuuuuugh.. happy thoughts happy thoughts.. in my happy place... gah that doesn't work..

Anyway, doing Stage 3 in two parts. They start off with each team discussing their strategies for each obstacle. Luckily they didn't change the obstacles before they went on (like they did with Stage 2). LOL This is obviously Team USA who did this stage just the night before in ANW6.

Here's Team Japan with their Stage 3 specialists.

And again I'm still surprised they sent out Vadym instead of Miska for team "Europe".

So, with the teams set, the virtual scoreboard updates us at home. For the record, there was no scoreboard at the event. No visible timer either. That becomes important as this third stage starts.

A quick rundown of the obstacles in this stage.

And even with a week break between blogs.. this still looks like some shack in Florida lost their roof. Oh and looking at the video they ran of this, seems they locked the knobs to the closed position. Japan's were set to open so they spun as you moved.

The return of the Floating boards.

And.. giggles.. I was told by the Japanese that when they found out that this was a 5 cm ledge they openly cackled. Sasuke's are 3 cm ledges (much harder) so this should be a piece of cake. They even joked amongst themselves that if anyone (Japanese) failed this should be kicked off the team permanently. LOL (and yes that also included Shingo which I found doubly amusing)

er.. never seen this before but I'm sure I can figure out what it does.

Giggles. There's the rest of the roof...

Viking's Heartbreaker Spider Flip

Flying Bar as the last obstacle again but Jenn Brown is wrong.. FOUR Americans completed the Flying Bar in competition. All in Sasuke 27/ANW3. They were Ryan Stratis, Paul Kasemir, James McGrath and David Campbell. Sasuke 27 had this as their 2nd obstacle in the 3rd stage so they had to go through that to get to the Ultimate Cliffhanger.

Relevant in this event since Paul Kasemir actually did successfully complete it once before. And relevant again since NBC AIRED this in the USA in Prime Time AS "AMERICAN Ninja Warrior" even before the TBS broadcast in Japan.

Right off the bat I'm told this wasn't the match up. Joe Moravsky was in this group instead of Paul Kasemir.

Okay.. where do I start.. Okay I'll start with the core of the problem. The rules. The rules for this stage and specifically the first obstacle were not evenly applied. This is especially important with Asa coming up. The rules were harped on and even told seconds before Asa was getting onto the platform. DO NOT SKIP balls. DO NOT GRAB CHAIN. Simple right? Here we go.

Before this happened they had a chance to try out the obstacles individually twice. In practice you had everyone grabbing chains and skipping balls. The night before you also saw that in ANW6. So he figured why not as it seems the rules that supposedly were in ANW6 don't apply here. Then seconds before he gets on he hears the rules are enforced yelled in his ear.

So Asa already is rattled by the yelling in his ear that he cannot skip anything despite the fact that he already organized in his mind that he was going to do exactly that...

and do not under any circumstances touch the chains

He's already in trouble at this point because the balls were quite different than the night before and he already prepared to not even BE on this 2nd ball.

So he did a mental error by not adjusting to the rules that suddenly were in place seconds before he got on the course.

He still legit failed. Nothing changes this fact.

And nothing changes the fact that he is beyond frustrated for failing to adjust.

Random crowd Shot™

So his disappointment is expected. However, what happens AFTER this is what made everyone talk and why TBS protested to the deaf ears of NBC.

Replay of him not getting a good grip on the last ball

Asa in a bad place. He had a horrible tournament. Again.

Plausible

Random crowd Shot™

Still don't understand why they sent a rookie here instead of Miska the 3rd stage specialist. As a gymnast I expected him to know his strength is not this stage.

He's already proven he's never been to the 3rd stage here and he didn't try out to get on this team.. so why is he here? I blame Captain Tim Shieff for this one.

at least I can't bitch he broke the rules because he didn't.

Now for the door knobs that don't spin on a hot tin roof.

Sasuke's knobs spun so I'm curious how this competition would be if they had those knobs instead of the ones in the locked position.

Cleared on the Knobs

First time on the Floating Boards (which I can't call Hanging Doors anymore.. LOL)

Pinching with knees are working

Clear on Floating Boards

No one should fail this. Absolutely no one should fail this.

Stop showing Paul.. he's not in this heat..

Good on the transition to small ledge

Seriously.. 5 cm's.. no one should fail this.

That's not even including how thick this landing ledge is either. LOL

Taking his time before getting on the propeller

Catches and spins around once

Grabs rope

And onward to the Hang Climb

And already I see his inexperience on this.

Not using his legs at all and barely hanging on to the hand holds

He had no hope of clearing this obstacle

Random crowd Shot™

Not sure why he's celebrating unless he thought it was enough to beat Moravsky's time.

Reminder. Morimoto was not first in this group. He just saw Paul fail just before him.

mmmm.. roll that beautiful pirated video.. This is actually from the Sasuke 29 broadcast where they did a compilation of all of the Sasuke 28 fails on the Crazy Cliffhanger. You know.. the real one. LOL. This is the 2 Time Champion Yuuji failing.

Followed by two New Generation guys Asa

and Kanno failing the Crazy Cliffhanger in Sasuke 28. In fact Asa and Kanno BOTH have failed it 3 times in a row by this point.

NBC explaining Morimoto's claim to fame

again with the pirated video (which NBC hasn't paid for, even now...) and look at that beautiful 3 cm ledge with no obnoxious bolts across the face. LOL

Where Yuusuke had become the first man ever to defeat the Crazy Cliffhanger.

This is what the CCH looks like.. none of this weird transition between where you can cheat around the edge instead of jumping.

Morimoto pimping that Sasuke merchandise while we hear the racist dub in the background I'm trying to ignore. I hope more people get to know him. He's a great guy.

Ingenious. Using just a small tap to get the ball moving to get IT to come to him instead of him trying to grab it and risk falling in the water because he's short.

He also was reminded that you don't grab the chain.. yes.. after Moravsky.. and Kasemir...

Random crowd Shot™

Using the Globe grasp technique to get a hold on the balls to stabilize them.

methodically going through the obstacle without making mistakes he could be called for.

The realization that the door knobs are not unlocked.. LOL

Flying through this part because it's easy

He can't contain his smile. This is nothing like the one in Japan that spins on every grip.

Relieved he cleared it given that he saw someone fail it just before him.

Time for the floating boards

Smooth transitions between going at an even pace

Time for the FrankenUCH™ with the visible bolts because they haven't figure out how to hide them underneath like they do in Japan. LOL

Again, the team already talked to each other (joking around obviously) saying that if any of them fail this they should be ashamed of themselves and kicked off the team.

Flying through this as this is a piece of cake for them.

No issues on the transition

Nor on the airport runway landing they have to catch the last ledge.

This is the most emotion we've ever seen from Morimoto!

Crowd going nuts chanting his name and he's responding (ignore the sounds you hear they loop at that later. They were calling his name by this point)

Random crowd Shot™

NBC wants you to believe he just stood here for 25 seconds

Nice high jump off the mini-tramp and swing around (missing the rope with his feet)

catches the rope on the turn

and swings to get across to the Hang Climb

Safe arrival

carefully going through

almost there

And easy transition to the Spider Flip

He's so relaxed he's actually smiling through this

Random crowd Shot™

Shaking out his arms as he gets under the spider flip

and into position to get the jump

Plausible!

Get set

and Go!

And quickly into place as he can't contain his smile

Cheering to the crowd

Plausible!

Random crowd Shot™

So NBC wants us to believe that Elet WANTED Yuusuke to fail?

YUUS'KEH! YUUS'KEH! is being chanted loudly still

another 30 seconds randomly thrown in as if NBC wants you to think he celebrated for that long..

Pipe Slider Grip™

I honestly didn't think that grip would work here.

but as he went obstacle by obstacle that grip gave him the control he needed.

lol distracted by the cables running under the pool liner :p

As he gets to the dismount bar

Totally plausible because this is exactly what Morimoto said he saw. His team going nuts.

Barely able to contain his euphoria he jumps off the final bar

and hits the timer.

At this point he doesn't care what happened with his result overall, he passed the stage that everyone told him he would never pass - the AMERICAN version of this stage.

Morimoto harped on the fact that it was a magical moment for him and his team.

And the fact that he didn't let his team down. That was the utmost importance to him. He knew he would be denied the win. He was warned before he even left Japan. The whole team knew.

The crowd was something that he thought was the highlight of the event. They were so supportive to everyone, including him, calling his name, that he said he will never forget that for as long as he lives.

First guy ever to complete ANW's 3rd stage, and him being Japanese, I call sweet irony.

Random crowd Shot™

Random crowd Shot™

And a bow to a crowd he will never forget.

I'm happy that the crowd doesn't have the NBC politics in their minds and cheer everyone. Afterall, THAT is the spirit of Sasuke that makes the show great.

Kanno in tears

No fair, Asa is always in tears. LOL

Everything is a blur to him at this point.

Random crowd Shot™

.. I hate the dub.. I hate the dub.. I hate the dub.

Replay of the transition from the Propeller bar

Yuusuke can't contain his euphoria for clearing Stage 3.

PDA bro! Get with the program! LOL

Up next is the (someone told me he went to school for this so he's a scientist) Meteorologist

Incoming Fluffpiece about last night.

So he blamed his friends for his failure? Classy..

He also failed in the 3rd the previous year

back to the present

Rules? What rules? Straight for the chain. Japan actually complained about this because the chains were used while Asa wasn't allowed to use them. As the night wore on and more and more people were brazen enough to grab the chain, the more TBS was pissed off. Had Asa known he could use the chain he wouldn't have failed. The rules were only enforced on the Japanese.

weakly reaches over..

but missed it and swings back.

This is probably why they moved Moravsky and Kasemir on the television broadcast to gloss over that fact. Moravsky should have been stopped for DQ'ing himself.

recovers and back on the hunt

Getting through the Door Knobs

And onto the floating boards

taking no chances and never breaking his form

on the FrankenUCH™

onto the low transition

and through.

Tries to grab the rope with his feet as well

but misses

tries again

but misses again and gets stuck in no man's land.

Finally, after pushing himself around in the air he manages to grab the rope with his feet

and recovers to get on the Hang Climb

interesting use of his foot

Still relying on his arms

So is he going to blame THIS fail on his support squad?

So even with the switch in order for the television, USA had no hope of winning either of the heats. For the record Joe lost to Vadym on time since they both lost the same obstacle. I guess it looks less dramatic this way. I don't know.. looks weird to me but whatever. I still think they used it to cover the rules violation on the first obstacle. Ultimately it had no impact on the results in the end since USA never won any of the first two heats.

Random crowd Shot™

This one makes me angry. They made the Japanese looks like asses for cheering. They NEVER cheer someone's fail. For the record, neither would USA or EU either. Totally d**k move NBC.

replay of the fail for the 2nd night in a row on the Hang Climb.

wtf... that's his girl.. wait they are married now? married during the summer.. so girlfriend at this stage.
Edit: Wife! They were just married a couple weeks before!

Soooooooo why is she here?

Outside of it looking stupid, it's a breach of security that they allowed a non-competitor to jump into the pool during a taping.

Jenn surprised to see her there while Joe looks mortified.

LOL He asked "what are you doing?"

Random crowd Shot™

Back to Heat 2 and 3rd competitor.

Proud Papa!

He just saw Morimoto do this so he tries the technique and it works perfectly.

(btw there's no audible beep at the event. No clocks. No scoreboards)

Rules? What rules? Straight skip with no penalties. Another that should have gotten the violation.

that didn't work anyway as he's right back where he started.

Now goes for the middle one since the first plan failed.

recovers and gets to the third ball

And onto the Door Knobs

No issues on the Door Knobs

Now for the floating boards

and sliding all over the place..

Taking forever on the boards but slowly getting through. I was curious how they were going to hide the time discrepancy and it'' all about the cut away to the fake crowd shots with no timer to hide it.

Finally survives this

Random crowd Shot™

on to the FrankenUCH™

No issues since the ledges are so damn wide.

never seen this before.

And nice way to show how wide this ledge really is if you can hold on to it sideways with both hands.

and this ledge of course you can land a Boeing 747 on

Clock actually went back in time there for a moment. LOL

nice jump

and totally sweet transition

to the Hang Climb in one smooth motion

Impressive look at the mind of a rock climber on this tin roof.

quick transition on spider flip

shaking off his hands

Plausible!

Set up for the jump

and clear to the other side

Just sitting there recovering. Shame he's not feeding off the crowd. Most likely focusing and ignoring everything. Frankly he looks overwhelmed.

And off he goes!

Squeaking through but still upright!

Final ledges!

And he's done it! Shame it wasn't the same time that is shown on the screen.. (more on that later)

Plausible!

Likely!

Random crowd Shot™

LOL this was hilarious how bad this was. These two shots were literally back to back within half a second of each other.

Random crowd Shot™

How as Ryo standing next to Asa and simultaneously sitting next to Morimoto? I mean Ryo's talented but now he can warp space and time! LOL

So the official word on this is that Morimoto actually won. The margin of victory though was reaaaaaaaaaaaally friggin close. As little as 3 seconds between them. So the general thought was simple, Ryo was next.. if both Ryo AND Morimoto won you would have a 3-way tie going into the final. Yeah.. you know what the outcome of that would be. NBC wasn't having any of it.

So while this was close it was easier to accept that Stefano was faster so they gave him he win. Morimoto had no idea he won either. There was no timer, no scoreboard so they just announced afterward that Stefano was faster by 3 seconds. (even the actual result was Morimoto by 3). So much for that as you see the atrocious timer they put for the television broadcast making it looked like Morimoto was crushed by over 30.

Even with that fix nothing changes the fact that you had two legit back to back clears by rookies to ANW on Stage 3. It was phenomenal to watch even if NBC decided to fudge the results.

And he's still a really cool Dad.

Awwwwww he looks so embarrassed to be bear hugged, totally PDA'ed on National television. LOL Glad to see him smile finally. He has a really nice smile.

And with Japan losing their 3 points, they are now officially out of the race to get to the Final. Heat 3 coming up next!

19 comments:

1. The rules on the first obstacle are just bs. Even worse is the double standards on Team 'europe' and Team USA.

2. Your comments on the cliffhanger are spot on.

3. The propeller honestly looks clumsily designed, much like the butterfly wall in stage 2.

4. I don't know if you noticed, but the Spider Flip's first wall has no resting ledge. I know it's a 'timed' course, but i feel like that option of resting on the first wall's ledge should be given.

5. I was surprised Mishka wasn't nominated for Stage 3. Obviously Team 'Europe' has never seen FinCli videos. Anyway, I hope Miska gets an invite for SASUKE 31. I'd think he'd make it to Stage 3 easily.

6. I feel really bad for Team Japan. They didn't deserve to be robbed of their victory. Even so, kudos to Morimoto on his great performance.

7. I honestly think Asa just isn't cut out for international competition. He's one of my favourite competitors ever, it's a real shame, because all of us who watch him at SASUKE know how talented and skilled he is, but those who only get to see him at events like these will think of him as the guy who chokes under the pressure.

8. I really share your frustration at NBC. Not just at stage 3, rather the whole event in general.

I know I've said quite a lot of things. Just wanted to share my honest thoughts. Once again, thanks for your great work!

Hey Robin!Thanks for the kind words.1. Agreed. It was a frustration with the rules enforcement between Stage 2 and Stage 3 on Team Japan. TBS complained about it and it fell on deaf ears.2. I found it funny once I heard all of the jokes on it from Team Japan.3. Agreed, though I'm all for obstacle invention. I like seeing innovation and risk in design. But you are right.. they both could have benefited from more testing.4. Yeah I noticed. Viking's, and Sasuke's version also changed. I believe the last version of the Spider Flip in Japan also didn't have the ledges. As for resting, they were given time to rest even if the timer never stopped. I am just not a fan of Fastest first. However, we all know I've pounded on that long enough. Giggles.5. Agreed. Miska knows he needs to work on Stage 1 speed. He can never shine on Stage 3 if he doesn't get out of the first 2 stages on Sasuke. So he has some work to do. I just would have liked to see him on Stage 3 since after all, that was the whole point of inviting him in the first place! LOL6. Agreed and agreed! Ultimately it was so blatant that TBS finally has seen why fans hate NBC so much. Before it was just "oh well they aren't that bad" then this happened right in front of them and all doubt was finally cast aside.7. Very much agreed. Asa and Kanno should be replaced for those exact reasons. They both crumbled in ANW5, ASEAN and ANW6.8. Thanks. This event was difficult to swallow. Especially since it's a lot more compelling to see what really happened instead of what they edited together.Again thanks. :) I know it's hard for those ANW fans to hear all of what is going on. I try to strike a balance between the disdain I feel over NBC's practices and the hard word and dedication of the ANW competitors. It's not their fault and they don't "fix" the competition. NBC's editing practices and calls on the field are the ones that cause this huge rift. I feel bad for them. They are just as much victims in this as the rest of the teams.

Hey Paul! No, I mentioned I wasn't there but have gotten multiple reports from various sources. This is the most I've ever gotten because the amount of bullshit was so high. I also regularly keep up with Japan (competitors and Sasuke management) to verify those claims to be quite real. The times, reports and evidence were all from people down on the ground. In addition this event is taped live in front of an audience so it was visible to a whole slew of people. Just like in previous years. This year just had more reports because of the severity of the editing and ultimately the overall result. Heh.. wait for the next couple sections. It gets worse!

"Natural"? Bilingual people cannot "naturally" speak another language? For the record English is my second language and I speak perfect English thank you very much. You are saying because they speak 2 different languages that they can't be proficient in both. I don't need a "white" person to speak those lines. I need someone that doesn't sound like they haven't been educated long enough to lose the accent. The strong accent implies that they didn't bother getting a person that can speak fluent English (regardless of where they came from) or worse, faked the accent to make it look like THEY (All the Japanese and Stefano) are uneducated and incapable of proper pronunciation. The problem on TOP of all of that is that they changed what they said and hid it behind the voice. In the past they have subtitled what they said and we found that they altered it because we knew people that are bilingual that and properly translate it. This way they can hide and change the content of the interview. considering they already changed the results, I don't put it past them.

Joe Moravsky here... first off, accidents happen. When you are competing at my level, you'll understand better. I grabbed the chain TWICE, once in the regular comp, and the other in the USA vs The World comp. BOTH were unintentional and it was just me being nervous. Secondly, I blamed nobody for my mistakes. I said that I heard a lot of people telling me to get my legs up which made me unsure of myself. Therefore, my confidence was shaken.

Last but not least, the Japanese guys cheated more than once on the Spider flip (put their legs on the opposing ledge of the spider flip when they stood up, when the rules were to NOT do that). So the point is, who gives a crap. It was an amazing night and great competition. USA will win next year, and I will be the first ANW. :)

Wow. Shots fired. I blamed NBC for not being consistent with their rules and I didn't go after the competitors. However, you went after the competitors directly and advertised yourself while you were at it. LOL That's some balls. If you bothered ever reading my blog more than the one where you wanted to see what I'd say about you then you would have found out that I trash the Japanese organizers when they don't get something right. They are not immune. I want fair play and level playing field. If they cheated on the Spider flip they should have been stopped as well. Period. I don't care where they are from. I don't care what's at stake. I want a clean fight.

And who gives a crap? I do. And Sasuke fans. And the Japanese who were lured into this event only to be set up to be humiliated. Your assertion that it was a great night was clearly your own. TBS left with a horrible taste in their mouth because of NBC's 'MERICA attitude. They broke the contract and they altered the results after you guys ran. THAT is not done in Sasuke. You already have your event you can gloat at as you are good at it. It's called AMERICAN Ninja Warrior. I want NBC to stop trying to influence my show. Sasuke.

MR. Moravsky. IF you are going to type trash about the person who in the first place created this blog then get the hell out of here. Arsenette makes these blogs for us REAL sasuke/ninja warrior fans. Not for cocky fakes like you. "at my level." What level? Level 10 crap? Just get out of here and don't cause disturbances again you weatherman and anw wannabe. And no, Brian will be the first. It is just stupid how you complained about REAL ninja warriors supporting you and giving you tips.And you Gamer. Get out of here too. Nobody cares about your negative comments and who the heck you have worked for. NBC is a multimillionaire TV network that I am pretty sure can afford good translators that speak perfect English. Seriously, GTFO.

Watching ANW led me to Sasuke -Yeah, I'm not proud of it either. LOVE Sasuke, not so much ANW or the gimmicky competitor vs. competitor route they decided to take or the bad editing -I watch for the competitors. I'm not fussed if they decided to edit out of order and repeatedly run fluff pieces like political propaganda, or paint the whole set the American colours and draping the flag wherever they can to disguise and snub the obvious Japanese roots or the annoying commentators that seem to jinx every run. Sometimes they're funny...I let it slide. But this...was ridiculous. It was disgusting what they did to the Japanese. Not being dramatic, but it was bad.

And to Joe Moravsky, it was all fun and games, as long as it was entertaining and a great night. But what about to the ones who were shafted by NBC? The Japanese came on the show in good faith, and NBC made it impossible for them to stand a chance. You're fine with NBC fudging results and taking away people's hard-earned wins as long as it's in favour of YOU, the American. With the cheating thing, I didn't have a problem with them letting it slide, but for them to only enforce rules on the Japanese was unfair. IMO if Asa ignored them and just kept moving NBC wouldn't have DQ him bc it would look bad. I believe they intentionally did that to him to mess him up. A strategic bluff that worked bc no way they could enforce it if the others touched the chains. The cheating wasn't what bothered me, it was the fact that only ONE team was being targeted.

On the next USA vs. World, it happens again with Morimoto doing smth no American had done before and winning stage 3, an amazing feat that was taken away from him for 'entertainment purposes.' Smth that would never happen to an American or 'European.' I'm glad they did come back bc despite again being shafted, a Japanese was the 1st person to conquer stage 3 and NBC can't take that away from him even they left with 0 points, that's all ppl will rmb. The same goes for Geoff Britten being the 1st true ANW. I hate that American attitude of 'as long as it was entertaining it's justified' that encourages NBC's bad sportsmanship. To me, a bad holocaust joke may be funny but it doesn't mean you should laugh and doesn't make it right. So it maybe entertaining to watch, but that doesn't make it right. I'm sure if they took away your win, you wouldn't be so jovial.

Hey Crystal! Don't be ashamed of your beginnings! I found Sasuke through G4TV with Ninja Warrior and that was crap television. Ahhahahahaha I just appreciate that you went out of your way to find Sasuke. There's always room in the party for 1 more! ♥

Yeah USA vs. World with Japan... At least this year it won't happen as they weren't there.